Chapter 2 - Priest
Quinn’s eyesare bright and her cheeks are flushed. “I can’t believe you stalked me!”
I haven’t felt like this in years and I’m not sure I like it. This unsettling sensation of being seen. Last time we spoke was the day we put Axel’s ashes in the ground, and I was a very different person back then. Barely eighteen. An adult in theory and by necessity, but without the experience to back it up.
She must’ve been about twelve. The only family member that gave a shit that Axel was dead. So fucking small standing next to the grave while her bitch of a mother waited in the car.
No father to be seen, but his mom was there crying big fat fucking crocodile tears to ham it up for the people she was milking with the fundraiser for his funeral. Like she hadn’t walked out on him five years before.
It was my first real taste of death, but not my last.
“Because I didn’t stalk you.” I hide my scowl behind my beer.
Sinner tips his head towards Quinn. “I have to agree with the lady. You kind of did.”
I’m a grown-ass man. A criminal on a good day. A murderer on a bad one. “I know for a fucking fact you keep an eye on your sister’s posts sometimes. How is that so different?”
“She’s not your sister,” Colt points out.
Fucking traitor.
“Might as well be.”
I look to Quinn for backup, but the little demon has the fucking nerve to show off her bare shoulder with a shrug. God damn it. I’m not blind. When I saw her face start showing up occasionally on commercials, yeah I looked her up. It started as guilt from running away after Axel died instead of sticking around to keep an eye on her for my best friend. But she seemed to be doing okay, and it turned into curiosity. Checking her socials a couple times a year and watching her turn from a scrawny teenager with freckles and a mane of fiery hair, into the woman across from me dressed in skintight leather nursing a margarita.
Sinner scents blood in the water. “So you think of this guy as your brother, Quinn?”
She catches her lower lip between her teeth and glances away before answering with a question of her own. “I had a crush on you back then, did you know? I thought I was being really cool about it, but I bet you both could tell.”
“Ax told me. He threatened to kick my ass if I made you cry.” I grin at the memory and Quinn laughs.
“That sounds like him. God, I think about him all the time but I haven’t talked about him out loud in years. Mom hates it when I do, so I learned to keep it to myself.”
“He was a good guy. Deserved a lot fucking better than he got.” I lift my beer in a toast before taking a long drag.
Colt and Sinner do the same. “To Axel.” They didn’t know the guy, but loyalty in an MC runs deep. If he’s important to me, he’s important to them. That’s how this shit works.
Quinn looks between the three of us and raises her glass. “To the best brother I could’ve asked for!” Then she takes a sip and nearly spills when she puts it back down. “Sheesh. They’re pouring them strong tonight. Or maybe I’m just a lightweight.”
Colt leans his weight on the table between us. “Tell me to fuck off if it’s none of my business, but why would your mother keep you from talking about your own fucking brother?”
She runs a finger back and forth along the bottom of her glass. “He was my half-brother. I think Mom always hated that our father picked Ax’s mom over her. He only moved in when she found out about us and kicked them out. Dad was…”
“He was a fucking waste of oxygen,” I fill in for her. “The asshole never gave a shit about his own fucking kids. He could barely take care of himself and smoked weed like it was a full time job. Even back then I never understood how the fuck he managed to get two women hooked, but they weren’t much better.” I shut up when I see Quinn’s shock. “Sorry,” I lie. Her mom was always a bitch, but I suppose she might’ve changed.
“I know she was never the best, but she gave up a lot to take care of me,” Quinn says softly. “She could’ve had her own career, butthen she got pregnant, and Dad was in and out of our lives. I knew how to take care of her, but Axel, he was hard, you know?”
“You were what? Five when Ax moved in with you?”
She takes a sip of her drink and nods. “Something like that.”
Me, Sinner and Colt exchange a silent glance. Family is complicated. Most of us know that first hand. I’m sure she doesn’t have to hear about it from us. Quinn presses a cocktail napkin against the back of her neck. She looks even more flushed, the red spreading down to where her breasts are peeking out of her laced-up leather top.
It takes a lot of effort to drag my eyes up to her face. “Time to switch to water.”
“Yep.” She pops the P when she says it. “Aaaaanyway, Mom’s my manager now. She calls all the shots.”
“Must be doing a good job if you’re a rich and famous actress,” Sinner says.
